Loose Tongues

Doing others a favour sometimes doesn’t bring us satisfaction but instead disappointment.

Why so ?? Let me relate an incident which occurred lately.

A relative of mine went on a Christian family retreat in my hometown. A very big group went there , around 150 of them

As planned, my sister-in-law there was contacted. Then she helped them to order the renowned ‘koropok’ which I claimed were much much cheaper and better. Perhaps I was too ‘ kay po’ ?

When the group came to my sister-in-law’s shop to collect the koropok ( By the way,she’s not selling koropok ‘ ) , out of the blue, someone among the group blurted out.’ Where got any businessman who does not want to make profits ? ‘ Oh ,My ! I couldn’t believe such words coming out from the mouths of the so-called God’s people. Definitlely, he was implying that any businessman will place profits above his principle or anything else. No such thing as hospitality or warmth or loving-kindness. So , to him , my sister-in-law was no exceptional case. Definitely ,she was getting commission out of her ‘kind ‘ deed .Oh, what a big insult ! To me , he had a wrong mindset. He should actually feel grateful to her for sacrificing her time ordering koropok for them . Furthermore,that was done so in the midst of her busy business hours. I am doubly sure she didn’t earn them a single sen. If I were in her place, I would have done the same.

I feel so sorry for that man .

Didn’t he realize that he had brought disgrace to our God for his loose tongue ?

Didn’t he know that he had closed the door to Christianity for my relatives who have not got to know our Lord?

Didn’t he realize that the serious impact he had brought to my relatives who had already got the blurred image of our religion ?

Didn’t he realize that my relatives couldn’t see any difference in him being a Christian ?

As a Christian , I always remind myself to practise God’s word in my daily life. From this incident, I hope I will strive more for tongue purity which I know is not easily done. However, with God’s help and reminder , it is still possible

James 3: 1 - 2

Christmas Sketch

In a recent Christmas Concert , we played the roles of 3 wise men ( Magi ) meeting the new-born King , Jesus. Do we look wise ? Ha..Ha.. Anyway, our main objective is to let people know the real meaning of Christ's birth into this world .That is to be our Savior. Of course , not our performance to be boasted of.

The Point Is :

last week , a team of 15 energetic and deeply-committed Christian undergraduates were taking part in God's mission in my friend's village. A 5-day Happy Holiday Camp was held there.

Undoubtedly , that activity had brought great fun to those rural kids . Many of them had not even heard of Christ before. It was indeed a worthwhile and meaningful activity.Thumbs up for these youngsters' mission for Christ.!

However, according to my friend , she was disappointed as far as the attitudes of those youngsters were concerned. They had totally different personalities when they were in the midst of the children's parents or relatives . They appeared to be rather distant, unfriendly and unapproachable . Given the opportunity to mingle around in their midst, they showed their impatience to take part in conversation , be it a short one .Some couldn't even bother to greet them . In short, there was a gap between them.

These youngsters claimed to be Christians and to have faith . However, those villagers could not see any evidence at all in their behaviour.There is contradiction in the way they actually behaved and the way they believed . They fell short of the Glory of God.

As Christians, we have to follow the LOVE COMMAND of our Lord. (1 john 3:23 ... his command : to believe in Jesus Christ and to love one another ) We have to love one another regardless of age, race , religions.... Very sad to say that these youngsters have overlooked this important teaching of Jesus . They have stumbled in this point. Hence, have become the stumbling blocks to the spread of Gospel to those village adults, instead.

My point is : Mission is at our doorstep . Our faith and action should be working
together. At any time, any place, we should be practising the same standard.
Then those non-believers will not say that we are practising a make-n0-
difference faith

Double-mindedness

After coming back from Singapore, my hubby shared with me his unpleasant experience during his 4-day stay there. ' Singaporeans have changed these days ' he related.

Yup , modern Singaporeans tend to evaluate surface values of things . They express favourtism to the rich, the powerful and the so-called economically successful people. Whereas, the downtrodden, downcast, the less-talented and the unfortunate are sidelined.Hence, double-mindeness is commonly practised. That is the scenario of today.Be it in Singapore or elsewhere.

This world treats people at face values . Quite often , we , as christians often do hear this phrase ' I do not want to go to church. It is full of hippocrites' . We tend to think that it is not true of us. However, it's good for us to ponder on their comment.

In my opinion, some christians are engaged in favourtism or the so-called double-mindedness. This is against GOD's value system because we are caught up with the worldly things. . As christians, we should not practise the following :

• Sunday - adore GOD
• Monday-Saturday - assassinate man

Therefore , please bear in mind the following :

• No hypocracy in our lives
• No favourtism
• No double-mindedness

As God's people, don't drop to the standard of the world if we claim that we are God's people

Common Ground

A few days ago , happened to have a chance to talk to my brother's friend. The time for the talk , though short but turned out to be rather well-spent. An insightful talk indeed ! Though he is not a christian , he displayed remarkable insight . His wisdom reflects the law of God written in his heart. As Proverb 23:7 says " As a person, thinks in his heart, so is he " . Your life is what your thoughts make it.

So we can learn helpful principles from non-christians and use their beliefs as common ground for sharing the gospel. As christians, we should not be obssessed about being right in the Doctrine of GOD . We may claim that we are christians . However, sometimes we do sound and look just like the world ; no difference except a change of activities in church. In reality, there's no change of activity in our heart and behaviour. That's what the non-believers think of us . What a disgrace to our Lord

Let's look for common ground with our neighbours,friends, colleagues etc.. so that we may lead the to Christ . Perhaps , we can share with them on issues like the books read/ hobbies/children/work/ a painful experience / travel ...... .Not everyone is engaged in professional ministry . However, opportunity for ministry is everywhere. Grab the golden opportunity and don't let it slip away . Ministry is just at our doorstep.